A multidisciplinary biomedical research program is proposed, which will involve five principal investigators, four faculty members at Incarnate Word College and one at St. Mary's University and thirteen associate investigators, two from Southwest Foundation for Research and Education and eleven from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (Southwest Research Consortium). Thirty-nine students, twenty-five undergraduate and fourteen graduate students who are enrolled at one of the institutions which comprise the United Colleges of San Antonio (Incarnate Word College, Our Lady of the Lake University, St. Mary's University) will be student investigators. The research program encompasses six areas of biomedical interest: physiology (electrophysiology, smooth muscle physiology, cardiovascular physiology and endocrine physiology); pharmacology (neuropharmacology, neurochemistry, medicinal chemistry); dental science (dental biomaterials, periodontal disease, periodontal biochemistry, periodontics); biochemistry (molecular cell biology, nutrition, periodontic biochemistry); cancer and radiation biology; and virology. The program is designed to provide maximum facility for the scientific growth and development of the research capabilities of the faculty and students. Collaborative research with established scientific investigators from the Southwest Research Consortium is being undertaken through which students become familiar with the Ph.D. programs in physiology, pharmacology, biochemistry, biology and medicine as well as research job opportunities available in San Antonio, Texas.